The Ugly Caterpie
by D.sist
Summary: Caterpie was happy ... until he realized the horrible truth. A retelling of "The Ugly Duckling", with a twist. One shot. Angst. R & R!


Author's Note: This is for all of my friends who think they are ugly Caterpies.

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon! If I did, I would be rich and wouldn't be writing fan fic.

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**The Ugly Caterpie**

Once there was an ugly little Caterpie. He didn't know he was ugly though, so he was happy. He lived in the forest with all of his bug-type pokemon friends. He knew Pinsirs and Wurmples and Volbeats, but no other Caterpies. Thus, he didn't know what he looked like.

But one day, a stranger came into the woods. He had a red cap and spikey black hair, and was rather tall. Caterpie crawled out of the bushes to get a better look at him and he passed by. Suddenly, the stranger threw a red and white ball at him. Caterpie squealed in surprise, but was suddenly surrounded by dazzling white light. He didn't understand what was going on. He was now in a small, dark room. It was cozy and little comforting but he wanted OUT!

It wasn't long before Caterpie got his wish. He was surrounded by more bright light, and when it vanished, he found himself outside again. The stranger stood before him. Caterpie felt grateful for being let out of the small room. Did the stranger want to be his friend?

"Hi, my name's Ash," the stranger said.

But suddenly, Caterpie caught sight of a girl far away. She was much taller than his new friend, and had bright red interesting hair. She smelled nice, too. Caterpie ran forward, excited to make yet another new friend in the same day. He rubbed affectionately against her legs.

She, however, screamed. "Ewwwww! Get it away! Get it away! It's ugly and it's GROSS!"

Ash picked Caterpie up. Caterpie didn't struggle, he was puzzling over what the girl had said. He was ugly? What did she mean? He supposed he had never seen what he looked like, but surely he couldn't look too different from everyone else.

He spent the whole day mulling over this disturbing discovery. How could he be ugly? He needed to find a pond or something to look at his reflection. How could how someone looked make a person not want to be friends? Caterpie _really_ wanted to be friends with the red-haired girl, whom he had discovered was named "Misty."

After they set up camp for the night, Misty was reading on her bedroll. Caterpie crawled up next to her and tried to cuddle, but as soon as he touched her she screamed and scrambled backwards. Caterpie was hurt and annoyed. Hurt by the rejection, and annoyed because her cries would probably attract Zubats.

"Misty, what's wrong?"

"That, that thing!" Misty gasped. "It crawled up next to me!"

Ash choked back a guffaw. "Misty, there's nothing to be scared of."

Misty defied Ash with a glare.

Caterpie, however, slunk off into the darkness. He could smell water nearby. He needed to see what he looked like – if it was really true that he looked repulsive. The moon was bright tonight, illuminating the woods in a parody of daytime. Caterpie had no trouble picking a pathway through the bushes, avoiding the sounds and smells of other pokemon settling down for a long sleep. If this is on condimints' profile, he stole it from . Caterpie smelled the wonderful smells of a forest at night, so fresh and appealing to his sense after being cooped up in the pokeball. The pokeball was cozy, but it didn't smell like dewy grass or clay filled dirt or lilacs or pine trees…

It was a short but refreshing "walk" to the pool. Caterpie could tell it was a hot drinking spot for the pokemon nearby, but no one was here at the moment. He crawled up to the edge, and looked down at the reflective surface.

He saw great big, wide eyes staring straight back up at him, never blinking. Cruel nubs around the mouth, most likely for getting food into the mouth, but looking pronged and threatening. A strangely shaped horn proudly stuck out of the forehead, making the pokemon look ready to charge. Its appendages were stubby, but many, and slightly pointed and sticky for climbing trees. Its head was enormous and bulbous, attached to a lumpy, unattractive body.

Caterpie realized the truth.

While he looked similar to the other bug pokemon, he was truly more grotesque than they were. He was just a bunch of blobs squeezed together and had creepy eyes and a two pronged horn sticking out of his head. It was no wonder that Misty found him gross. Never mind his new friend, Ash. Ash must be blinded by the bright light that appeared whenever a pokeball was used – his judgement was clouded.

His friends were truly heroic, Caterpie thought. To be able to hang out with such a disgusting looking pokemon! Or maybe, he thought perversely, they kept him around because they looked and felt better next to such a disgusting thing.

Caterpie hung his head in shame. He knew the truth now, and there was no returning to that time of innocence. He slowly returned to the camp, however loathe he was to do it. When he arrived, the fire was burning low and everyone was already in their sleeping bags. Ash was still awake, however.

"Caterpie, you're back! I left some food for you by the fire."

Caterpie could barely look at him. He nodded and crawled over to where a bowl was sitting. It was filled with strange brown food.

"It's pokemon food. Pikachu seems to like it. I'm going to go to bed now, Good night!" Ash smiled and rolled over so his back was to the fire.

Caterpie was relieved that he didn't have to eat the strange food in front of his new friend. He nibbled cautiously and found it to be rather good. It was crunchy but slightly soft and had a wholesome, hearty flavor. Much like eating tender twigs from an oak tree.

The kindness of the gesture made Caterpie feel worse, however. He did not deserve such things from Ash. He just barely managed to finish the food. Afterwards, with a full but guilty stomach, Caterpie settled down close to the fire. He felt rather peculiar, slightly chilly inside, in fact. He cuddled closer to the fire…

The next morning, Ash woke to find a strange green crescent moon shaped pokemon next to the fire. _What happened to Caterpie_, he wondered. He took out his pokedex, which identified the thing as Metapod, the evolved form of Caterpie. He tried to wake it, but to no avail.

Caterpie had felt so horribly ashamed and unhappy that he had wrapped himself in the cocoon of Metapod so that none could see him. He sank into a sort of coma; he never wanted to see the light of day again.

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This is my first story so please, please, please review!


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